WVU Today

WVU Medicine Children’s, the state’s only Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, has partnered with Nexstar Media Group to host a Mediathon on Wednesday, Nov. 13, in conjunction with the WVU Day of Giving to raise funds that will help patients and families in need of life-changing care.

A cornucopia of contradiction is dotting the landscape of Colorado’s Front Range, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. 

In the foreground of dramatic peaks and valleys, which are never out-of-season for a stunning snapshot, are — oil and gas wells. 

An institution at West Virginia University for more than 100 years, the Mountaineer Marching Band will one day have a home of its own. WVU and dedicated alumni are working together to pursue a practice facility for the 330-member West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band.

The practice facility is supported by the College of Creative Arts, WVU Athletics and the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. It will be a much-needed upgrade for The Pride of West Virginia – its current practice space is a parking lot at WVU’s Coliseum. The new facility will be located on the Evansdale campus, replacing Hawley Field, the old home of WVU Baseball.

Donors to West Virginia University’s third annual Day of Giving on Wednesday (Nov. 13) could see their investments grow immediately thanks to other generous University supporters.

Several alumni and friends have issued challenge and participation matches for the 24-hour online fundraising effort designed to raise dollars for the University’s greatest priorities and opportunities, as well as scholarships and unrestricted funds at both the University and unit specific level. This includes WVU Health Sciences and the WVU regional campuses. Among them:

In an effort to meet growing healthcare needs across the state, the West Virginia University School of Public Health is now offering a Master of Health Administration, a premier program for those seeking to lead the health systems of the future. 

Approved by the WVU Board of Governors on Friday (Nov. 8) and slated to enroll the first cohort in the fall 2020 semester, the MHA program will focus on the organization, delivery and management of healthcare and public health systems and services as it prepares graduates to advance into leadership positions throughout the broader health system. 

West Virginia University has named Patrick Orsagos and Caroline Leadmon the 2019 Mr. and Ms. Mountaineer. A long-time Mountaineer Week tradition, the prestigious award recognizes exemplary academic achievement and extracurricular involvement. 

Orsagos and Leadmon were announced as this year’s honorees during halftime of the WVU vs. Texas Tech football game today (Nov. 9) at Milan Puskar Stadium. 

(Updated from original version to correct fiscal year in 9th graf, plus other stylistic changes in 3rd and 11th grafs.)

West Virginia University ended the fiscal year with a strong financial performance, Paula Congelio, vice president of finance and chief financial officer, said Friday (Nov. 8).

West Virginia University ended the fiscal year with an improved balance sheet, thanks in large part to increased income from federal awards and contracts, Paula Congelio, vice president of finance and chief financial officer, said Friday (Nov. 8).

“We are pleased with our results,” Congelio told the WVU Board of Governors’ Audit Committee. “The University continued to manage expenses and make progress from a financial perspective.”

The human papilloma virus turns healthy cells into “zombies” and controls how frequently they reproduce, according to West Virginia University researcher Ivan Martinez. Those changes in cell division can lead to cancer in women and—unbeknownst to many—men. 

“People have a misconception that because 99 percent of cervical cancers are related to the HPV infection, only women can have HPV-positive cancer,” said Martinez, an associate professor in the WVU Cancer Institute and School of Medicine, who receives support from the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute. 

Nurses who want to become nurse anesthetists can now work toward that degree through the WVU School of Nursing. 

The WVU School of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice – Nurse Anesthetist program received its accreditation from the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs. The program  was made possible by a partnership between WVU, West Virginia University Hospitals and University Health Associates.

The West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is partnering with Mon Valley Habitat for Humanity to build affordable housing units in Monongalia County.

On Saturday, Robert Parsons, a 61-year-old male from Chesapeake, Ohio, got a new lease on life when surgeons at the West Virginia University Heart and Vascular Institute and the WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance performed West Virginia’s first heart transplant.

(Editor’s note: A media tool kit with photos, videos, and additional resources is available in the WVUToday Media Center.)

West Virginia University will hold a bell-ringing ceremony, coordinated by the Office of Campus and Community Life and Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity, on Friday (Nov. 8) in remembrance of students Ryan Diviney and Rylee Brunette.

Diviney, 29, a pre-law major from Ashburn, Virginia, died Aug. 31 and Brunette, 17, a high school special student from Burton, died Oct. 10.

West Virginia University geographers are linking the political and human rights issues at borders today to the legacies of foreign and domestic policy across the globe since World War I. 

Karen Culcasi and Cynthia Gorman, of the Department of Geology and Geography in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, have studied more than 100 years of international laws that have led, perhaps unintentionally, to the existing hostile climate for refugees. 

West Virginians have reached an important milestone in the battle against obesity and its related conditions - years ahead of schedule - thanks in large part to a West Virginia University program aimed at reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

The Rethink Your Drink campaign, launched by the WVU Extension Service Family Nutrition Program in 2013, takes several forms. A media blitz generating more than 28.4 million impressions via billboards, 4.7 million via radio, 5 million through TV commercials and 6.4 million impressions through a targeted digital campaign. Additionally, community engagement activities held at community events and locations like grocery stores, have reached 25,000 people per year over the last four years. 

Four hundred West Virginia high school seniors can enter a pipeline of future workers in the oil and gas industry through an industry-specific training program initiated by West Virginia University Extension Service Safety and Health Extension.

The SafeLandUSA orientation program will offer job readiness training, an online and hands-on ATV safety course and medical response training in high schools and vocational and technical schools across the state. 

Love and devotion through leadership, service and support exemplify this year’s class of “Most Loyals” during the 72nd Mountaineer Week on West Virginia University’s campus. 

The 2019 honorees are Robert "Bob" and Dorthea "Tia" McMillan, Most Loyal West Virginians; Rhonda Wade, Most Loyal Alumni; Kevin Berry, Most Loyal Faculty/Professional Staff; and Debbie Koon-Friel, Most Loyal Staff Mountaineer. The group will be recognized during the halftime ceremonies of the Saturday, Nov. 9 WVU-Texas Tech football game at Milan Puskar Stadium. 

Only 1.8 percent of West Virginia public school students are identified “gifted,” or having intellectual abilities higher than average. That’s well below the national average of 6 percent, according to the National Association for Gifted Children. 

But Carla Brigandi, assistant professor at West Virginia University’s College of Education and Human Services, believes that West Virginia’s number is not representative of the talent in our local communities. The real issue is that students with gifts and talents aren’t being identified as such. 

Cells can’t text each other the way we can, but they can still communicate. One way they send each other messages is through exosomes—tiny, spherical “packages” of information they emit. 

David Klinke, a researcher with the West Virginia University School of Medicine and Cancer Institute, is deciphering the contents of exosomes that cancer cells release. Studying the information exosomes contain and how they influence other cells may suggest new targets for cancer immunotherapy.